Shivangi Maini crowned Miss India New York 2017

Shivangi Maini, of Queens, was crowned Miss India New York 2017 at the 36th Miss, 10th Teen and the 4th Mrs. India New York Pageant held on December 3, in Long Island, NY.

The event was hosted by Nishi Bahl of Panache Entertainment and IFC, and coordinated by Shilpa Jhurani.

The largest reputed pageant held outside of India, it has provided a platform for several Bollywood actresses in the past, like Richa Sharma Dutt, and Aarti Chhabria.

The event consisted of judged segments including Ethnic Wear, Evening Wear, Talent, and Question and Answer.

Preliminary judging included a three-minute talent portion, which ranged from traditional Kathak pieces, to modern Bollywood dance, and playing instruments, to public speaking skills.

The Best Talent was awarded to Vinika Shikapuri of Melville, NY. She played the violin to the Indian National anthem, along with performing a dual genre dance performance to the chartbuster ‘Aisa jadoo dala re’, where she displayed her modern dance skills inclusive of props from jumping off the chair.

She concluded her performance with a medley performing traditional Indian classical kathak choreography to a mainstream song Don Omar – Danza Kuduro featuring Lucenzo.

For the finale, each contestant was asked a question by the judges’ panel.

The judges’ panel included Adnan Khwaja, Director of supermodel pageant Runway Princess, expert photographer and event planner of AA Film Studios and Dream Moulders; Box Office and South Asian Insider founder Sharanjit Singh Thind, social worker and community leader Nilima Madan, founder of The Ticket Guru Abhinav Madan, and Director of Social Services in Nassau County Sunita Manjrekar.

The event was emceed by the 2016 outgoing queens Miss India New York Riya Kaur, Miss Teen India New York Rhea Manjrekar and Mrs. India New York Nishtha Chadda.

The Miss India New York 2017 title went to Shivangi Maini of Queens, New York; 1st Runner-up: Renuka Joseph from Long Island; 2nd Runner-up: Inpreet Rattu of Suffolk County, New York; 3rd Runner-up: Nishigandha from Queens, Long Island.

In the Teen category, Miss Teen India New York 2017 title went to Vinika Shikapuri from Melville, Long Island; 1st Runner-up: Simran Kohli from Hicksville, Long Island; 2nd Runner-up: Priya Aguilar Bhanot of New Hyde Park; and 3rd Runner-up: Geetika Kochar from Bethpage, Long Island.

In the Mrs. Category, Mrs. India New York 2017 title went to Talath Quadri from Long Island; 1st Runner-up: Devinder “Devin”; 2nd Runner-up: Gurpreet Singh and 3rd Runner- up: Anjali Jain from Hicksville, Long Island.

In addition to these titles, there were multiple subtitle winners in all three categories, including Best Talent: Vinika Shikapuri; Beautiful Smile: Anjali Jain; Most Photogenic: Nidhi Tomar; Best Model: Sofia Win Aung.

This year, a new title of Panache Brand Ambassador was awarded to Sofia Win Aung.

The winners will now proceed to compete representing the state of New York, at Miss, Teen and Mrs. India USA hosted by Neelam and Dharmatma Saran of IFC.

Parikh Worldwide Media is the largest Indian-American publishing group in the United States. The group publishes five periodicals – “News India Times,” a national weekly newspaper; “Desi Talk in New York,” a weekly newspaper serving the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region; and “Desi Talk in Chicago,” a weekly newspaper serving the Greater Chicago area and the Midwestern states; and “The Indian American,” a national online quarterly feature magazine, and the Gujarat Times, a Gujarati language weekly. The combined circulation and readership of these publications make the media group the most influential in the ethnic Indian market.